


The Serpent Prince

by autoeuphoric (FreezingRayne)



Category: Free!
Genre: Coercion, Desert AU, M/M, Reigisa Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-06
Updated: 2014-07-06
Packaged: 2018-02-07 17:52:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1908252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreezingRayne/pseuds/autoeuphoric
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei is a young ambassador come to beg aid from a neighboring kingdom, even if that means abandoning himself to the mercies of its ruler, a boy known as the Serpent Prince.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Serpent Prince

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuses for this. Contains questions of consent, i.e. coercion.

The hall is huge and dark, a relief after the white blaze of the desert sun.  Rei stands just inside the doors to let his eyes adjust.  It wouldn’t do to walk in half-blind.  Not here.

The braziers that mark the way forward burn an eerie green.   _Copper powder in the oil,_ Rei thinks as he passes them.  There are guards here, half in shadow, faces masked.  They are armed with scimitars and knives that have been dipped in the milk-white venom of the cobra, and a tattoo of a snake paints the inside of their wrists.  Below Rei’s feet is a patterned mosaic of the house’s sigil—an enormous serpent swallowing the sun. 

And atop a raised dais, lounging on a throne of onyx and white alabaster, is the Serpent Prince himself.

Rei goes down on one knee, bowing his head.  His grasp of the language is passable, although hardly as good as it could be.  “Your highness.  My thanks for your receiving me so readily.” 

“You are the envoy from the east?” the prince says with a slow, lazy smile.  “I thought all ambassadors had beards down to their waists and hair growing from their noses.  At least, all the ones my father met with did.”

“I have only just taken up my post,” Rei says, keeping his eyes to the floor.

“Oh, indeed?  Come closer, ambassador.  Let me look at your face.” 

Rei rises and mounts the steps of the dais.  The Prince is younger than Rei had been expecting, but the tales had not been entirely wrong.  He does have eyes as bright as a demon’s and the beauty of a painted god.  His body is loose and relaxed, but like the creature from which he takes his name, there is a low, constant tension; it would take him less than a moment to coil and strike.

Rei bows his head.  “Your highness, I am here to beg for your aid on my people’s behalf.  Our harvest has been poor, and war threatens at our southern border.”

“So quick to business,” the Prince says, lizard smile widening.  He flicks a hand out toward the hall.  “As you see, my hall is unadorned.  What makes you think I have riches to spare?”

Rei glances back at the bare stone pillars.  “This is a hall meant to intimidate, not to impress or delight.  And in all fairness, your highness,  _you_ are not unadorned.”  The Serpent Prince wears thick bands of gold about his neck and wrists, as well as a delicate jade circlet as a crown.  His robes are a simple white and blue, but Rei knows that if he were to touch them, he would find them made of the finest silk. 

The Prince’s eyes narrow, and Rei wonders if he has gone too far.  The Prince is not known for being openly cruel, but he is capricious, making unheard of decrees, granting pardons at random, assigning men to his high council, only to have them removed the following day.  Rei has already calculated the distance between himself and the doors, just in case he needs to make a quick escape. 

But then the Prince laughs, jeweled earrings glimmering as he shakes his head.  “Come with me, then, stranger from the east,” he says, leaning close, “And I will do my best to delight you.”

\--

The Prince brings him to the hanging gardens, high up on the cliffs to catch the breeze from the sea.  His pavilion is cool and shaded from the worst of the afternoon sun, the scent of orange blossoms floating in through the narrow, arched windows.  A bouquet of nearly naked men and women lounge on cushions in the shade, until the Prince sweeps in and snaps his fingers.  They scatter like butterflies.

Rei is installed on a deep plush cushion, and a cup of wine is put in his hand.  The Prince lounges on his side and eats from a plate of honeyed figs.  Rei sips his wine, feeling utterly out of place, but mildly hopeful.  If the Prince is willing to flaunt his wealth so openly, then surely he must be considering the plea? 

“Tell me, Sir Rei, what do I get in exchange if I come to your kingdom’s rescue?” 

Rei sets down his cup.  The wine is watered, but he needs his head utterly clear for this.  He laces his fingers together, as formal as he can be while seated on a cushion.  “Her Royal Majesty the Queen is willing to offer you the lands that border your own, and the river—.”

The Serpent Prince’s laugh is bright and frantic, and not a little mad.  He collapses back onto the pillows with a giggle.  “Oh, is she?  And what exactly am I supposed to do with thirty square miles of swamp?” His eyes gleam.  “I know people say I’m insane, but I am far from stupid.”

Rei flushes.  He knows it is a paltry offer, but it is all he is empowered to give.  “So you refuse?”

The Prince sits back up and licks the honey from his fingers, tongue as pink as the flesh of the figs.  “Do you know what I think, Sir Rei?  I don’t think you really are who you say you are.  It think you are a spy.”

“ _What?”_ Rei can’t keep the outraged shock from his voice.  When had he given  _that_ sort of impression?  Is this the madness people speak of?

“Yes, definitely a spy.”  He’s still licking his fingers, even though he’s already cleaned all traces of sweetness from them, and for a moment Rei is distracted by the swirl of his tongue.  “No doubt you have been sent by my enemies to learn the secrets of my kingdom.” 

“Highness, in no way do I—.”

“Call me Nagisa,” he says, rising to move sinuously across the pavilion towards Rei, who scrambles to his feet, nearly slipping in the sea of cushions.  “I’m sure you are a spy, yes.  And I know you must have your orders on you somewhere.” 

“I don’t,” Rei promises.  “I’m not.”  

“I’ll just have to check to be sure, then,” Nagisa says.  He slides small, warm hands down Rei’s chest. 

The light breeze off the water is not enough to cool the sweat forming on Rei’s neck.  “H-Highness—.”  The courtyard is empty—not even a servant at hand.  Does the prince often seduce his guests here?  Shortly after bidding them use his given name and accusing them of espionage?

Nagisa pushes Rei’s vest off his shoulders.  It hits the cushions with a flutter.  “Not here, it seems.  Perhaps I need to look elsewhere?”  He unwinds the scarf from Rei’s head and drops it as well.

The Prince smoothes his fingers through his hair.  “Nothing here either.”

The breeze hits Rei’s sweaty back and he shivers.  Of all the dangers that could have been waiting for him in this foreign court, this is not one he could have foreseen. 

“Highness—!” 

Nagisa falls smoothly to his knees, tugging away Rei’s sash, pressing his mouth just below his naval.             

“Why?” Rei gasps out.

“Because I want it.”  The Prince’s voice is barely more than a whisper, but the threat is clear.  “And I always get what I want.”

Rei’s belt is removed, and then his pants as well.  This is not dignified—standing stark naked in a courtyard—but certain parts of him do not appear to hold to the same standard of behavior.

The Prince opens his soft pink mouth, and Rei learns that his name is even more apt that he thought—he can do the most wondrous things with his tongue.  The jade circlet gleams in his hair, unsettled slightly by the motion of his head as he swallows Rei’s cock all the way down, tip to root.  Rei has never felt anything like it.  He makes a sound that he’s not sure is meant to be protest or encouragement, but it hardly matters, because it sounds like neither.

Nagisa swallows around him twice more, before he pulls off with a groaning cough, mouth shiny-wet. 

“You,” he says, voice ragged.  “I want you.  His nails dig into Rei’s hips and he pushes him backward with surprising strength.  Rei hits the pillows with a soft bounce and the Prince crawls between his legs, leaning back down.  His tongue flicks out—small, teasing licks.  His cheeks are flushed and his eyes are feverish. 

“Please,” Rei can’t help gasping out.  “Oh, please.”

A slow tremor moves through the Prince’s body.  “I will send your kingdom aid,” he says, breath hot on Rei’s cock.  “But in exchange I want you.”

Even through the haze of frustrated desire, Rei’s stomach seizes in a slow swoop of fear.  “Highness, I can’t—.”

Nagisa’s eyes gleam like pink limestone.  “Then your kingdom will fall.”  Slow flicks of his tongue, barely sensation.  “But if you stay here with me, your kingdom will want for nothing.   _You_ will want for nothing.”

Rei cups the Prince’s cheek, marveling at how large his hands are as he moves them down to his throat.  His skin gleams golden in the desert sun, and his lips are red and swollen, saliva trailing down his chin.  There are no guards here—all it would take would be pressure.  That slender neck looks so fragile.

The Prince must know what he’s considering, because his pulse speeds up, fluttering against Rei’s palm.  “You would never reach the doors alive,” he whispers.  “And besides, wouldn’t you like me to finish before you kill me?”

“Yes,” Rei whispers, not even sure of what he’s agreeing to.  “Yes, yes.”

Nagisa smiles sweetly and kisses his fingers, then swoops back down to lick a long, slick line up his cock.  “I’ve always wanted someone just like you,” he croons.

_That’s why they sent me,_ Rei thinks, as the Prince divests himself of his robes.  I _was the true offer._

“I will send an emissary to the east,” Nagisa says.  “Just as soon as I am satisfied.” 

_That_ , Rei can’t help thinking as the Prince presses him back down against the silks, coiled like a cobra prepared to strike,  _could be a very, very long time._


End file.
